Meeting E-Friends In Real Life

by Zamgwar
ALL EARS® Feature Writer

Feature Article

This article appeared in the
November 11, 2003, Issue #216 of ALL EARS®
(ISSN: 1533-0753)

I am one of those who fall into the category of being "in awe of
technology." Maybe it's the reason Epcot stands on the top of my
list of favorite Disney parks.

On a regular basis I find myself staring at some mundane
everyday item with the same total amazement that bystanders at
Kitty Hawk wore on their faces 100 years ago as the age of
flight was born. When I see people on cell phones, I still can't
shake the '60s image of Captain Kirk flipping open his
communicator. In my youth "personal communicators" were science
fiction, now every 13-year-old has one. The ability to drive
through a toll booth without heaving change into it absolutely
astounds me. If stepping up to a "self check-out" in a
supermarket isn't "Jetson-esque", I'm not sure what is.

Perhaps nothing says "the future is here now" than the very
computer you're reading this newsletter on. It has made "pen
pals" of the world, with a wealth of information available to
anyone with even the most modest computer access. Whether you
need directions to a food store between Orlando airport and WDW,
or a good place to eat near Tokyo Disneyland, you need only
check in with a few online Disney "e" (for electronic) friends
to have all your questions happily answered.

For all they have done, however, to increase communication,
computers still tend to be impersonal, cold, and HAL 9000-like.
They don't allow you to look into a person's eyes, or see their
smiles. Even in the most crowded room, I can differentiate my
wife's laugh from a sea of voices, yet all LOLs are the same.
For that reason several years ago, I began contemplating meeting
the actual people who belong to the Disney screen names I
regularly enjoyed online. I say "contemplated," because along
with growing up with Walt Disney on TV, I also grew up with
Alfred Hitchcock on TV.

In fact, I thought there was a better chance of someone with the
screen name of "Grumpy" being an "axe murderer" than one of
seven dwarves who work in a gem mine. Surely anyone who spends
day and night on a computer talking to complete strangers has a
high probability of being wacko.

Luckily, at least so far, I've been wrong... at least about the
axe murderers.

One wonderful part of my recent visits to the Realm of the Mouse
has been meeting, "face to face", old and new online friends
behind the screen names. The old friends are people who have
told me what exit "Albertson's" is off the Greenway. The ones
who urged me to try a "beaver tail," and pointed out that the
top of the Haunted Mansion is made up of chess pieces. The new
friends are newsgroup lurkers and ALL EARS® readers who just came
up to say hi. Meeting all of the actual "humans" behind the
names has been a hoot.

A boat ride back from Disney-MGM Studios recently resulted in a
fun encounter with a pair of chiropractors, ALL EARS® readers who
were attending (cough, wink, nudge-nudge) a "convention" at Walt
Disney World. They warned me of the "evils" of having purchased
an annual pass (more on those "evils'" in an upcoming article).
Laughs were shared during a stroll down Sunset Boulevard at the
Studios with a reader from Toronto. Generations were crossed
during a chance meeting with the "daughter" of an old favorite
rec.arts disney.parks newsgroup screen name on Tower of Terror.
Many laughs were had at an impromptu after-park cocktail meeting
of ALL EARSstaff and readers. All of these folks not only seemed
to NOT be axe murderers, they seemed like people anyone would
love to hang out with after work, in "Non-Disney" World.

Granted, meeting e-friends at the park does take some time. This
creates apprehensions that the meetings might take away time
from your own personal "Disney Experience." It seems hard enough
as it is to do what one wants to do during a vacation, without
setting time aside to talk to complete strangers.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

To my surprise, I have yet to meet a stranger. While some are
indeed more strange than others (myself topping the list), not
one has been a "stranger." Far from it, for we all shared a
great commonality. The sheer enjoyment of time spent in a
vacationland ruled by a mouse in short red pants.

So for those who are curious about the person who types your
favorite newsgroup posts, makes you laugh on rainy days or
writes your favorite ALL EARS® tidbits, here's Zamgwar's list of
how to safely meet your e-friends.

1) Find out who's going when you're going. There are internet
lists of who's going and when. On the newsgroups (like rec.arts.disney.parks) it's
really easy to see when someone's got a trip planned. The
subject line of their post usually says "WOO-HOO I'm going in 26
more days!" You can also post your own "WOO-HOO" announcing your
arrival date..

2) If you see an e-friend is going to be there the same time you
are, email them and say, "Hey! You want to meet? My personal
favorite time to meet folks is for cocktails or ice cream sodas.
I personally am not a fan of big meets or group attraction
forays. It's not that I'm shy (those who have met me can attest
to that), it's just not my thing to do on a vacation. Cocktails,
however, is definitely my thing. For "She Who Must Be Obeyed"
(AKA Zamgwar's wife, Karen) it is a nightly after-park ritual.
The atmosphere of sitting in a comfy chair with a big drink in
hand and no pressing place to go is a great way to recap the day
and really do some quality laughing face to face.

3) For those who aren't shy about plowing into large groups and
saying "Hi, who are you?" or who find large numbers of people
more comforting, there are Internet park meets almost every
given week. The Mother of all Internet meets, "Mega Mouse Meet," is
scheduled for December 6 this year.
(See http://allears.net/btp/mousefest.htm for details.)

4) Finally, you can do what I do. Put your screen name on a
zillion t-shirts and have a contest for people to find you. This
year's "Find Zamgwar" winner was an ALL EARS® reader named Jeff,
although he never collected his prize. (If you're reading this
Jeff, feel free to email me at zamgwar@aol.com, tell me
where you found me and I will make good on the reward. I always
do!) Next year's contest is currently scheduled for the week
preceding 4th of July, although "She Who Must Be Obeyed" had me
trying hard find three days this December and a few days in the
spring.

Oh, the evils of the annual pass, but once again, THAT is
another story.

Regardless of how and when you chose to break through the
"screen" and finally meet some of those online friends, it is
sure to be enjoyable. How could it be otherwise? You like the
same things. My meetings with "e-friends" haven't taken away
from my Disney experience, they've added to it. I can now
visualize the sparkle in their eyes, the warmth of their smile,
and know what their LOL sounds like, in their emails, trip
reports and posts.

Just use common sense, and avoid meetings where you are directed
to meet your "e-friend" in a darkened "Goofy" section of the
Magic Kingdom parking lot at 1 a.m. in the morning!

That's My2Cnts. What's yours?

John
Office of E-Pals
The Zamgwar Institute

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Editor's Note: AllEarsNet® strongly suggests, as Zamgwar
indicates, that you use caution and take common personal safety
precautions if you do choose to meet up with any persons you
contact through the Internet. Although we have had nothing but
positive experiences when we have chosen to meet our
"e-friends", as Zamgwar puts it, we realize that there are many
unscrupulous individuals in the world who may not be as nice or
as friendly as we would hope.